Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Prediction of Frost in May Worries Farmers, 1918

“Frost Tonight Is Weather Forecast,” made the front page of the Hickory Daily Record, May 1, 1918

Fair and cooler with frost in the interior is the weather forecast issued today for North Carolina, and gardeners and truckers with their early crops well advanced will shiver for the next day or two for their stuff. The weather this morning, after breaking fair, was cooler and a stiff wind made May seem like March. If the wind continues through the night there will be no danger from frost, but the wind has a way of subsiding at night, and gardeners should beware—if that will do any good.

It was remarked on the streets this morning that in 1849 a heavy frost and freeze occurred in May. Mr. W.A. Propst, who related this incident in the presence of a Record reporter, said that wheat was almost a total failure only a little sorry grain being produced. There is no prospects of any such weather as that, however, and although tomorrow will be cooler, there is reason to hope that by tomorrow afternoon the weather will moderate again. Cold weather in May does not hurt the wheat, Mr. Propst, Sheriff Blackwelder and Mr. J.W. Shuford agree out of their experience, and they observed that a cold, dry May is the best for a good yield of this important cereal.


Since the wind has dried off the trees and potatoes and other vegetation, the danger from frost is believed to be remote.

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